Method to formulate T-cells

ABSTRACT

A method for formulating T-cells for use as a medicant comprises activating the T-cells by incubating the T-cells in a nutrient culture media with an activating agent. The T-cells together with the activating agent are suspended in a media suitable for infusion. The activated T-cells are packaged together with the activating agent in a container suitable for administration to a patient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/173,330 filed Jul. 15, 2008 which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/069,010, filed Mar. 1, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,402,431 which is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 10/838,454, filed May 4, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,592, which also claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. Nos. 60/549,032, filed Mar. 1, 2004, 60/547,966, filed Feb. 26, 2006, 60/545,450, filed Feb. 18, 2004 and 60/470,171, filed May 13, 2003, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to methods for formulating ex-vivo prepared T-cells for infusion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cell therapy methods have been developed in order to enhance the host immune response to tumors, viruses and bacterial pathogens. Cell therapy methods often involve the ex-vivo activation and expansion of T-cells. Examples of these type of treatments include the use of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cells (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,132 issued to Rosenberg), cytotoxic T-cells (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,073 issued to Cai, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,827 issued to Celis, et al.), expanded tumor draining lymph node cells (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,385 issued to Terman), and various other lymphocyte preparations (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,207 issued to Bell, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,983 issued to Ochoa, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,177 issued to Riddell, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,920 issued to Babbitt, et al.).

For maximum effectiveness of T-cells in cell therapy protocols, the ex vivo activated T-cell population should be in a state of maximal activation upon infusion. Efforts for developing improved methods for producing more effective T-cells for use in cell therapy protocols have focused on the ex-vivo activation methods. However, ex-vivo activated cells need to be harvested and administered to patients to have a therapeutic effect. The harvesting of the T-cells removes them from the activating stimuli available in the ex-vivo cultures. Therefore, the longer the time from harvest to infusion, the lower the quality of the T-cells.

There is a need to develop T-cell formulations for infusion that maintain the cells in a state that can maximally orchestrate an immune response to cancer, infectious diseases and other disease states at both the time of infusion and while circulating in the blood. Efforts to maintain the activation state of T-cells at the time of infusion have most commonly involved the formulation of the T-cells with exogenous IL-2. Systemic IL-2 administration to patients has also been used to maintain the activation state of T-cells post-infusion. However, exogenous IL-2 administration is extremely toxic to patients and has not resulted in significant benefit to patients undergoing T-cell infusions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure includes a method for formulating T-cells for use as a medicant comprising activating the T-cells by incubating the T-cells in a nutrient culture media with an activating agent. The T-cells together with the activating agent are suspended in a media suitable for infusion. The activated T-cells are packaged together with the activating agent in a container suitable for administration to a patient.

For the purposes of the present invention, all references to T-cells includes a population of cells with at least a portion of the cells containing T-cells. T-cells are cells which express TCR, including α/β and γ/δ TCRs. T-cells include all cells which express CD3, including T-cell subsets which also express CD4 and CD8. T-cells include both naïve and memory cells and effector cells such as CTL. T-cells also include regulatory cells such as Th1, Tc1, Th2, Tc2, Th3, Treg, and Tr1 cells. T-cells also include NKT-cells and similar unique classes of the T-cell lineage.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The biodegradable spheres of the present invention are preferably manufactured from aliphatic polyesters, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), copolymers of PLA and PGA (PLGA) or poly(carprolactone) (PCL), and polyanhydrides. The spheres are produced into small particle sizes of 0.1 to 500 microns, preferably less than 10 microns and most preferably less than 1 micron. Microspheres of this size range are capable of direct injection into the body by conventional methods. It is preferred that the coated spheres be designed to degrade in physiological fluids within 7 days, more preferably within 3 days.

The preferred first material for coating on the biodegradable spheres is polyclonal goat (or sheep) anti-mouse polyclonal antibodies. By way of example, this preferred first material can be used to cross-link mouse-derived monoclonal antibodies, or fragments or genetically engineered derivatives thereof, that have specificity for T-cell surface moieties. Thus, for example, the mixing of goat anti-mouse coated microspheres (or nanospheres) with human T-cells labeled with mouse anti-human CD3 and mouse anti-human CD28 mAbs will cause the cross-linking of the mouse mAbs on the human T-cells through the binding of the goat anti-mouse polyclonal antibody with the mouse mAbs. The cross-linking of the mAbs causes the activation of the T-cells. Alternatively, the anti-human CD3 and anti-CD28 can also be first bound, preferably in a 50/50 ratio, on the goat (or sheep) polyclonal antibody coated spheres and mixed with the T-cells. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many combinations of first materials and second materials can be used to accomplish the objective of cross-linking second agents attached to T-cell surface moieties in order to initiate signal transduction and activation of T-cells.

The mixture of T-cells with cross-linked surface moieties is suspended in infusion medium (e.g., isotonic solutions such as normal saline, 5% dextrose, Plasma-Lyte (Baxter) or Normasol (Abbott). In some embodiments, the infusion medium is supplemented with 0.5%-10% human serum albumen (HSA).

The mixture is preferably adjusted to a final T-cell concentration of between 1×10⁷ to 1×10⁸ cells per ml of infusion media. In a preferred embodiment, 10⁹ T-cells are formulated in 100 ml of infusion media. The formulation is then packaged in one or more containers, such as syringes, plastic pouches, or plastic bottles.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to formulate T-cells for use as a medicant comprising: activating the T-cells by incubating the T-cells in a nutrient culture media with an activating agent; suspending the activated T-cells together with the activating agent in a media suitable for infusion; and packaging the activated T-cells together with the activating agent in a container suitable for administration to a patient.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the T-cells are Th1 cells.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the media suitable for infusion is PlasmaLyteA supplemented with human serum albumin.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the container is a syringe. 